


Truly, Madly, Unbearably

by blueberry_absinth



Category: Dragon Age (Video Games), Dragon Age - All Media Types, Dragon Age - Various Authors, Dragon Age: Inquisition
Genre: Bears, Gen, Maybe some relationships in the background, This weird idea wouldn't leave me, will probably add characters as I go
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-10-15
Updated: 2015-10-15
Packaged: 2018-04-26 13:46:32
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,122
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5007013
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/blueberry_absinth/pseuds/blueberry_absinth
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>While dealing with bears in the Hinterlands, Cassandra has a baby bear imprint on her. </p>
<p>AU in which everything is the same, except Cassandra has a bear.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Truly, Madly, Unbearably

**Author's Note:**

> Idea that couldn't leave me alone until I wrote it up. Idk, could post some more if there's interest.

With a heavy sigh, Cassandra pulled out her longsword from the carcass of yet another bear.

Judging from the rate they had to kill these creatures, it seemed like the real threat to Thedas wasn’t a hole in the sky, or the war between mages and Templars, but bloodthirsty ursine with horrible timing skills.

She had a look around the clearing. The Herald, Mila Lavellan was pulling the corpse of another bear on the side. Her sword and shield were set aside and a tiny hunting knife sat in her hand – she’d been looking for any leather they could use. Times were hard and they had to use anything they could find – even meek stuff like nugskin and ram leather. Bearskin was a bit of an upgrade, but not by much. On the side, Solas was nursing a barrier around Varric, as the latter took care of his injuries with weak makeshift poultices and health potions.

The scene only reminded her of the horrible situation they were in.

Desperate, with no allies, and no official support from the Chantry. In fact, the Chantry had shunned them, declared them traitors. 

Suddenly trembling hands tightened around the hilt of her sword and the straps of her shield. She hated those moments when she stopped for long enough to think about their _situation_. It only made her feel worse and never actually contributed to getting it under control. She should be doing something to better their state, but instead she was overthinking it as of now, and it seemed like nothing they ever did mattered–

She wasn’t without her injuries as well. Bruises and wounds that had just closed off, littered and ached all around her body. This fight had been harder than what she had expected. However, whatever was left from their supplies went to Varric, who needed them the most. 

Though important for establishing another Inquisition camp in the Hinterlands, it had taken almost all of them and their supplies.

How were they even hoping to bring peace to the world back from all this destruction when they could barely hold their own versus the wildlife? The baby steps they had to take to bring the higher institutions to notice them seemed meek and futile (even if she knew better).

But the gears she had set in motion were already moving and the only thing she could do now is follow and pray that they had all done the right thing.

However, if what she had a great hand in creating, proved to be a fraud…

Her longsword flew out of its sheath and its hilt crashed onto the lifeless bear which had not only five minutes ago threatened her associates’ lives. Without even feeling her arm as her own, Cassandra lifted it and let it fall once again. Guts and furry leather spewed from the carcass, blooding her armour even more. It would be a pain to clean back in Skyhold, but right now she didn’t care.

Now the bear would serve as a battering dummy on which she could take out her anger.

She raised her sword again.

“Well, I guess we won’t be able to get anything useful from that one,” the Herald commented lightly from the side.

Cassandra startled.

As if torn from a dream, she turned around and ended up staring emptily at Varric, peripheral vision barely registering the other two elves. His stare was judgmental, but coming off the reverie she just experienced, she didn't feel the usual hurt that came from Varric's attitude.

“Forgive me―”

Before she could finish apologizing, a high-pitched whine interrupted her, scaring the four of them.

They all jumped in the direction of the sound and were met with the most heart-breaking sight.

A small baby bear cub trying to climb the body of one of the bears (luckly, not the one Cassandra had mangled), crying and bawling and stumbling over the wet pelt. Its fur hadn’t blackened as much as its parents’, having taken up a reddish hue from the blood. Its cries were getting higher and higher still, desperation evident in its non-human voice.

Her eyebrows shot up.

“A baby bear!”

Cassandra was a rough, but not a heartless person and if she wasn’t so well acquainted with wars’ losses, she would tear up. Even if this was just a bear. Even if.

“Well, that sucks,” Lavellan was, as always, eloquent as the old poets in Cassandra’s library.

“Surely even the heartless Seeker wouldn’t leave a poor little bear cub to fend alone in the wilderness under the threat of mages and Templars among all else,” Varric was quick with the snide remark as per usual, but this time around, she elected to completely ignore it, attention transfixed on the bear cub.

Her feet carried her on their own volition closer to the baby, before stopping a few steps before it so as not to startle it. It didn’t seem to notice her at all, too caught up with its own grief. Bizarre as it was, she felt her heart sing with it. Even the tiniest of civilians suffered losses.

“Hey, little one,” she murmured to the cub, managing to turn its attention to her.

The cub turned its head, abandoning its impossible mission. Its tiny nose was pink and wet and trembled slightly as it sniffed the air.

By instinct, she extended her hand towards the cub and it rushed to sniff it so fast, it tumbled into her hand.

Its pelt was soft and sticky and a nice cinnamon brown colour in the patches with no blood. It reminded her of her uncle’s seasoning spices, one of her nicer memories from Nevarra.

Cassandra wanted to coo.

“I’ve never thought to attach the expression mama bear to you, Seeker, much less literally.”

Varric must have loved how she completely ignored him, transfixed instead on the tiny ball of fluff. He needed a break anyway, and she was doing horrible at being nice to him.

Gingerly picking it up, Cassandra turned around and showed it to Lavellan, who cooed for real.

“I think we should keep it,” the Herald coughed, then as the bear whined softly and pawed lightly at the Seeker’s hands, outright declared it, “Yes, we are keeping it. Definitely. Yes. Absolutely.”

The two men looked sceptical, though only Varric decided to voice his concerns.

“Hey, usually, I’m not one to be all disapproving and all, but you are really sure you want a bloodthirsty creature whose family you killed―”

“Shush.”

Cassandra was deaf to the argument going on around her and blind to the scouts who started incoming from the hills. She had her utmost attention on the cub.

Now she knew how Leliana felt around nugs.

**Author's Note:**

> Obviously I can't say that all bear behaviour will be right, though I've done some research (I'm not a bear scientist, sorryyy) Still, apparently bears can purr?


End file.
